Power switching devices having a capacitive gate control input such as MOSFETs, insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), and MOS-controlled thyristors (MCTs), are used in a multitude of electronic switching applications such as ON/OFF load controls, switching amplifiers, motor drivers, switch mode power supplies (SMPSs), and cycloconverters for their superior performance at high switching frequencies. Such devices are turned on by charging the gate capacitance to some appropriate, relatively low, voltage value and are turned off by discharging the gate capacitance. Information as to when the power switching device is to be on and off is delivered to a gate driver circuit which is designed to rapidly charge and discharge the gate capacitance of the power switching device as a means of turning the device on and off.
However, in circuits using high-side and low side MOS-gated devices, such as motor controllers, the two MOS-gated devices cannot be on at the same time, because it creates a direct short circuit known as “shoot-through” condition. A common application involves using two MOS power transistors stacked in series between two power supply rails as the output stage of a switching regulator, conventionally referred to as a “half-bridge” configuration. In a “shoot-through” condition, when both power switches are turned on at the same time, a low resistance path is created between the two power rails and a large current will flow through the two power switches. A shoot-through wastes power, can cause fluctuations in the power supply voltage, and/or can cause over-heating, which will damage the power switches.